In the third period, the Tampa Bay Lightning had launched 26 shots in the direction of the Chicago Blackhawks net. Of the 16 that made their way onto Arvid Soderblom, the Chicago netminder had turned them all aside. It appeared that, despite a valid attempt at a comeback, two precious points would slip away into the ether. Then, with 40 seconds left in the game, Nikita Kucherov found Jake Guentzel in front of the net, and the newest Lightning superstar deflected it home to tie the game. Kucherov would do it himself in overtime as he slipped a shot/pass through the legs of Soderblom to give the Lightning a 4-3 victory.
Kucherov finished the night with three points, all of them coming on the power play, which went 3-for-3 against a pretty good penalty kill. The Lightning opened the scoring as Mitchell Chaffee scored a first-period power-play goal, but the Bolts struggled a bit to end the first, allowing goals to Colton Dach (his first NHL goal) and Frank Nazar over a two-minute span to end the period.
Their struggles continued into the second period as Chicago extended their lead when Louis Crevier made it 3-1. Shortly after, Jonas Johansson made a key save on Phillip Kurashev to keep the Lightning in the game. Johansson finished the night with 11 saves on 14 shots. A late goal by Nick Paul gave the Bolts a little life heading into the dominating third period.
First Period:
20:00 – Cam Atkinson starts with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel as the game gets under way. Looks like Chicago has a later line-up change as Taylor Hall is a healthy scratch. Rumors are that there is a deal in the works involving Carolina. Old friend Pat Maroon takes his spot.
18:07 – Some interesting plays at both end as Chicago throws the puck in front of their own net with no intended recipient of the puck. At the other end, JoJo whiffs on a poke-check and watches the puck skitter through his crease with a couple of ‘Hawks close by.
14:23 – Nick Paul takes a hit along the boards and immediately goes to the bench (well, almost immediately, the puck found him as he was skating off and he took a second to dump it in). Conor Geekie then gets hit in front of the net by a shot.
11:33 – A whistle blows as Victor Hedman deflects a shot attempt into the crowd. Cirelli has a really nice look deflect away on the previous rush, and Soderblom has to flash the glove out to make a save just prior to that.
9:25 – First power play goes to the Lightning (yay!) as Colton Dach sits for hooking. Would be an excellent time to string a few passes together and score a goal.
9:01 – MITCHELL CHAFFEE! Solid entry and the Lightning work the puck along the boards. Two Blackhawks go to Kucherov in the corner, and he backhands the puck to a wide-open Chaffee in front of the net. Chaffee buries it. Mitchell Chaffee (Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point) Power Play, 1-0 Lightning
8:18 – The Lightning follow up the goals with an extended shift in the Chicago zone. Mikey Eyssimont tries another wraparound. One of these days he’s going to actually score on that play. On the next shift the third line comes out, and it’s good to see Paul and Geekie are back on the ice.
7:04 – Kucherov sends Brayden Point in, but Soderblom is able to get a pad on the backhand attempt. Chicago’s defenders are infatuated with Kucherov tonight. It’s the second time tonight he finds an open teammate as two opponents converge on him.
3:31 – A moment of trepidation as Nick Folgino receives a pass on a two-on-one. JoJo is able to stretch him out, but leaves the net empty. A centering pass goes unfulfilled, but the Lightning never get set. The puck bounces around and eventually Colton Dach chips it over a pad and into the net. Colton Dach (Ryan Donato, Louis Crevier) 1-1
1:13 – The Lightning lose the puck along the wall and Frank Nazar dusts the puck off before firing it past Johansson to give the Blackhawks the 2-1 lead. It started at the blueline when Kucherov wasn’t able to get to the puck before it was chipped in. They got to it behind the net, but the clear along the boards jumped over Ryan McDonagh’s stick, and Kucherov wasn’t able to shut off the centering pass from Conor Bedard. Frank Nazar (Conor Bedard) 2-1 Chicago
0:00 – Johansson gets a glove on a last-second shot from Alex Vlasic that is labeled for the far post. A couple of breakdowns over the last five minutes wipes out a really solid start for the Bolts. They’ll have to get back to playing in the Chicago zone moving forward.
Second Period:
15:28 – We join the period already in progress. While we were making a hot chocolate it appears the Lightning took a penalty. They also allow another goal as Louis Crevier snaps one from the right circle under the bar and in just after the power play expires. The big fellow comes flying off the bench and cruises to an open spot. The Lightning fail to account for him and he has a clear shot at the net. Louis Crevier (Frank Nazar, Lucas Reichel) 3-1 Chicago
11:43 – The Paul line with an extended shift in the zone. With the puck pinging around, Zemgus Girgensons lowers his head and drills a shot at the net, but Soderblom makes the save. He probably thinks he’ll never score again at this point.
8:10 – Lightning have not been very clean with their breakouts this period. There has been a lot of space between the defensemen with the puck and the forwards flying the zone. Johansson makes a couple of big saves after turnovers. One of them was a full extension with the right pad to stop Phillip Kurashev from the slot. That could be one of those “remember that save” if the Lightning can get their offense going again.
5:48 – Kucherov to the penalty box as he is a little too aggressive with his stick in trying to disrupt Tyler Bertuzzi. (Extreme announcer voice) This is a big penalty kill coming up!
4:38 – We mean…like…that puck should have been in. Cirelli rings it off the crossbar after Hagel is his usual disruptive self on the forecheck. Probably the best chance for the Lightning this period.
0:38 – Max Crozier with a nice play at the defensive end as he uses his stick to keep the puck out, and then swats it away with his hand. At the other end, Kucherov’s shot is kicked away and then Emil Lilleberg’s shot is gloved.
0:08 – Nick Paul deflects them all! Hedman chips an innocent backhand toward the net and Paul deflects it home. They were both in front of the net as the puck hit something and deflects past Soderblom. Huge goal in the twilight of the period. Nick Paul (Victor Hedman, Brandon Hagel, 3-2 Chicago
Third Period
18:17 – Soderblom swallows up a shot from Hedman after a strong shift from the Paul line. Strong start to the third, but they have to start turning chances into goals.
14:56 – Soderblom knocks down a shot with his helmet and Crozier’s follow-up catches just enough of the pad to go over the net. Darren Raddysh guns a 96 MPH shot that Soderblom stops. The pressure is coming, but the Bolts have to be cautious not to let one of the speedy forwards get behind them.
9:04 – The Lightning get their shots on net, but can’t get to the rebound. Lot of loose pucks in front of the net with Soderblom scrambling around. At some point they have to get a stick or a skate on one to get it into the net.
6:52 – Lather, rinse, repeat. Girgensons is trailing on the play and fires an open shot over the net. Another flurry in front of the net ends with Chicago clearing the puck. Time is starting to be a factor.
2:54 – The clock continues to tick away and Johansson will likely head to the bench the next time the Lightning have clean possession in the offensive zone. Shot attempts are currently 23-3 in favor of the Lightning in the third period. They also have a 7-0 lead in scoring chances, but the score remains 3-2 in favor of the home team.
2:26 – Alec Martinez trips Brandon Hagel behind the net and it’s a power play for the Lightning.
1:07 – Chaffee’s shot from the slot is swallowed up. He had a golden chance a few moments earlier, but whiffed on the shot. JoJo is on the bench with 41 seconds left on the power play, making it a 6-on-4 advantage.
40.8 – Jake Guentzel you wonderful son of a gun! Kucherov drifts in, finds a lane and bangs a pass off of Guentzel’s stick. Great job by Jake to establish position in front of the net. Jake Guentzel (Nikita Kucherov, Darren Raddysh) Power Play 3-3
3.3 – Nick Paul is hauled down leaving the the Lightning zone. Bad clock management by Chicago. Teuvo Teravainen has to know that there is no way Paul is skating that all the way down the ice with three seconds left on the clock.
Overtime
4:35 – Kucherov puts it off the post to start things off.
4:02 – KUUUUUCHHHHERRROVVV. His shot looked like a pass, but it’s a little off and it hits the inside of Soderblom’s pads and goes in. Nikita Kucherov (Victor Hedman, Jake Guentzel) Power Play, 4-3 Lightning
Pregame Notes
- Cam Atkinson will be skating in his 800th career game.
- Ryan McDonagh sits at 1,949 blocked shots. If he blocks six more he’ll move past old friend Dan Girardi for 10th all-time in that painful stat.
- The Lightning have not lost at the United Center in regulation since the 2019-20 season, going 7-0-1 at the new Madhouse on Madison during that stretch.
- Nick Paul is three assists shy of 100 for his career.
The Morning Skate
There was no morning skate for the Lightning this morning, but Coach Cooper did say that Jonas Johansson will get the start and that Erik Cernak will miss his fourth straight game with an injury.
On the other end of the ice, Arvid Soderblom will start in net for the Blackhawks. The 25-year-old is nursing a personal three-game losing streak (the last one was in a shootout) and is 6-11-2 on the season with a 2.92 GAA and .907 SV%.
Wyatt Kaiser was reassigned to Rockford and replaced on the roster by Ethan Del Mastro, who will skate next to Noah Allen on the third pairing. There is just a little bit of size on Chicago blueline tonight:
Blackhawks blue line tonight: Louis Crevier: 6-foot-8 Alex Vlasic: 6-foot-6 Seth Jones: 6-foot-4 Ethan Del Mastro: 6-foot-4 Nolan Allan: 6-foot-2 Alec Martinez: 6-foot-1 (Connor Murphy, injured, is 6-4) A stark contrast from the diminutive D corps of the late Bowman years.
— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
